Given the community forum/workshop which will come to pass this evening, I suppose it is not surprising that September’s 94th Precinct Community Council has been cancelled. Otherwise, follows is the 411 regarding this evening’s convocation:

I just came home from helping a friend clean up after the storm. When I left the building I didn’t notice the bullet holes in both front doors of my building. Mike called the precinct at about 12:30 pm today to find out what the hell happened and why we weren’t told about it. Mike spoke to Detective Lopez who said someone came into our building and shot our doors. They don’t know who did it yet. We heard from neighbors that it happened at about 3-3:30 am. We’re mad as hell that the police didn’t ring bells and let tenants know. I’m all the way up on the 5th floor. And don’t always hear what’s going on downstairs. But my daughter often comes home from work in early morning hours and could have ended up as a victim. Detective Lopez said that the precinct can’t station a car out front to warn tenants. Duh! But they could have rung the bells! Lopez told Mike, “I’m sure they did”. Well I checked with other neighbors on my floor, and none of their bells were rung. Furthermore, I was up and down in bed last night because once or twice I heard loud voices downstairs. So I would have heard my bell ring.

I don’t care what the 94th precinct says. Crime is escalating in N. Greenpoint. I personally want to know if this incident ends up as an actual report. Mike’s calling 311 right now. We’ll be calling our building’s managing agent on Monday to push for cameras in this building.

Yikes! This is as good a reason as any to remind everyone this month’s 94th Precinct Community Council meeting will come to pass this upcoming Wednesday, November 7th, at 7:00 p.m.

As many of those reading this are undoubtedly aware, a homeless man was beaten very severely at McCarren Park this weekend. Gothamist has a synopsis of this horrific incident which you can read by clicking here. In the following footage Deputy Inspector Hurson gives us an update as to what happened. The good news: they have made an arrest. The bad news: they are not certain if the fellow who was assaulted, Pawel, will survive.

It goes without saying that the subject of homelessness dominated last night’s meeting. In fact our City Councilman, Steve Levin had plenty to say on the subject. What I found particularly interesting (and encouraging) was his run-down of the new respite shelter in the works to give our homeless a safe place to sleep this upcoming winter. In addition he outlines the resources available to our local homeless and the rather (and this is putting it nicely) problematic Greenpoint Hotel/the quarter house. Do take a moment to give this— and the frank discussion which followed— a listen.

Part IV: A citizen lauds these youths for cleaning Jerzy Popieluzko Square (this is pretty awesome)

Part V: A representative from the Youth Court speaks & D.I. Hurson gives a rundown of recent crime trends

Crime was up for the month of February. Mr. Hurson attributes this to unseasonably warm weather.

Burglaries are still a problem. He states that two men responsible for a string of burglaries at bars in his precinct have been identified/apprehended. Simply put, these two men were breaking into bars after hours. One was caught at Bellwether on Union Avenue.

Street robberies (for electronics) is still a concern. Recently a rash of these came to pass on Roebling Street between North 8 and North 4 Street. The perpetrators are between the ages of 14 and 18 years of age and one young woman has been arrested.

Car break-ins are still a concern as well.

Part VI: The Q & A Session Continues

Phyllis tenders some remarks regarding one Officer Brown and truck drivers. Among other things she asserts Ms. Brown is overweight. D.I. Hurson begs to differ.

As I have noted previously, there have been some issues with 94th Precinct Community Council meetings conflicting with those of our local Community Board. Thus, I am pleased to announce the previous have amended their schedule for the remaining year to remedy this problem. Henceforth meetings of the Community Council will be on the first Wednesday of every month— to take note!

As some of you are undoubtedly aware last night both the month meeting of our Community Board and that of the 94th Precinct Community Council came to pass. I opted to attend the Community Council meeting. I’m glad I did: not only did Deputy Inspector Hurson give a presentation of 2011’s crime statistics (which featured a sobering number of vehicular/pedestrian accidents, as you will see) but after a slow start the question & Answer session got downright contentious. The fly in the audience’s proverbial ointment was (among other things) loud/unruly bars. Without further ado here is footage (which as of 4:14 p.m. is WORKING!!!) of the proceedings. Enjoy!

Part I: General Announcements, D.I. Hurson Announces the “Cop of the Month”

1. Minutes are waived.2. Deputy Inspector Hurson notes that while Bedford Avenue was rather festive on New Year’s Eve (and some of the merrymakers were perhaps a little too merry) matters did not get out of hand.3. D.I. Hurson announces the “Cop of the Month”: Officer Wikira. Officer Wikira detained a man stuffing a woman’s purse into a mailbox. Shortly thereafter a robbery was reported involving the man in question. He, having just served twelve years for similar such offenses, was arrested and sentenced to five years.

1. The 94th is the 9th best precinct in the city.2. While most crimes were down (for example, burglaries were down 35%), felony assaults were up 26%.3. Overall crime was down 10%4. D.I. Hurson makes note of an auto theft ring the 94th recently busted. Apparently this outfit was shipping automobiles to the Middle East. Wow.5. Arguably the most disturbing statistic offered were vehicular/pedestrian accidents. 77 of these came to pass last year. This is a 63% increase over 2010 (which had 47). Bicyclist/motorist accidents, conversely, were down. Albeit slightly: 67 in 2011 versus 79 in 2010. This is a 15% decrease.

Another MARCH operating came to pass January 6th. The establishments “visited” were The Cove, Veronica Peoples Club and The Place. While the Department of Health did serve some violations, nothing major was found.

There were two shootings. One came to pass at 255 Nassau Avenue December 4th; the other was a self-inflicted gun shot wound in front of the White Castle on Metropolitan Avenue. The lattermost individual, having arrived at Woodhull Hospital for treatment, was arrested.

Part IV:The Q & A Session Commences

1.The matter of the The Production Lounge (which is located at 113 Franklin Street)— or more specifically the noise emanating from it on “Polish Hip Hop Night” (which came to pass January 7th)— is brought to the table. A local landlord kicks off this discussion. This gets rather contentious quickly.

Part V: Q & A Session Continues, The Production Lounge and Noise Issues in General are Discussed

1. A neighbor of Veronica Peoples Club speaks about noise issues.

2. Attendees are advised to tender any and all noise complaints to our local Community Board.

Part VI:Q & A Session Continues

1. Complaints about zoning (and lack of planning as being a facilitator for the proliferation of bars) are raised. Greenpoint is likened to a “frat party” and the East Village by one citizen.

2. Questions are raised about how noise complaints are handled. D.I. Hurson cites Coco66 as example as how noise complaints were used as the pretext for a MARCH operation which resulted in this establishment’s closure.

Part VII:Q & A Session Continues

1. The owner/operator of a local music studio complains about the noise emanating from 113 Franklin Street.

2. A resident of the Cooper Park Houses tenders the most fascinating (and disturbing) item of the meeting: apparently an Access-a-ride driver is purchasing drugs at said complex several times a day. Usually frequently while driving said vehicle.

3. More noise concerns are posited, specifically about the air conditioning unit gracing Mrs. Kim’s.